This invention relates to carton dividers, and is particular to a one-piece cushioning divider which may be adjusted to form several different multi-cellular configurations.
Adjustable dividers are used for packing variably sized items, such as fruits and vegetables, which are sold by weight. The produce is generally graded by size before it is packed, and items of like size are packed together. Honeydew melons, for example, are graded into five size ranges. Packing each grade in a separate-sized carton is inefficient and expensive, since it is impossible to predict in advance how many melons will fall into each size range. Since the fruit is perishable, cartons and dividers cannot be manufactured "to order" after the melons are graded. Furthermore, it is desirable to pack about the same weight of melons in each carton. In practice, one or two carton sizes are used, along with a divider which can be adjusted by folding to form the required number of cells. An adjustable divider makes it possible to pack 4 very large, 5 large, 6 medium, 8 small, or 10 very small melons in the same carton using the same divider.
The prior art contains a number of adjustable dividers. However, these dividers are held in shape by a glued seam. Gluing is slower and more difficult to automate than slitting, scoring, or folding. If the glued bond is poor, or the seam is inacurrately placed, the divider may fail in use. Even when the gluing is done properly, this step retards the whole divider-making operation. This is an especially critical problem since the dividers are used to pack perishables with a relatively short harvesting season. At harvest time, dividers must be produced rapidly, accurately, and in very high volumes.